LIFE STORY OF MARTHA ANN RISTE WILSON (# 15 Chart 1)
by Mary Ann Norton Rasmussen, (granddaughter) and daughter of Sarah Ann Wilson Norton
John Richards and Mary Goodacre (#s 62/63 Ch 1) lived in England about 1822. They had two
children, Hyrum and Mary Ann. John was a very rich man as was his son Hyrum also. Mary Ann
Richards (# 31 Ch 1) was born 20 September 1799, East Leek, Nottingham, England.
Mary Ann was married at the age of 23 on February 5, 1822, to James Riste, (#30 Ch 1) who
was a brick layer. Mary’s father was very much opposed to her marriage to James on account of his
financial setting. They were blessed with five children: James Jr, Maria, Hyrum, Levinah, and Martha
Ann, (# 15-1). James Jr. died when he was 21 years old before they came to Utah.
Same as picture on page 198. Levinah on top row, center, and Martha Ann bottom row, center.
When the Mormon missionaries went to England, Mary and her husband and two daughters
whose names were Levinah and Martha Ann, joined the church. Later their brother Hyrum joined the
church but never came to America. The oldest sister (Maria or Mayra), never did join the Church due to
the opposition of her husband who was very bitter and opposed to the Mormons. He didn’t even allow her
to go to her mother’s home and threatened to kill her if she ever made contact with her family or
missionaries.
Mary’s father, John Richards and brother Hyrum tried to get Mary and James to forsake their
religion and stay in their native land. Mary’s husband James came on to America in 1853, in the Appleton
M. Harmon Company, to supply money to bring the family. During the two years that he worked in
America, his wife and two daughters worked to support themselves, regardless of the fact that Mary’s
father and brother were very wealthy men. It was during those two years that Mary’s father John
Richards, died.
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After the funeral the family was called in for the reading of the will. The will stated “If Mary would give
up her religion and stay in her native land that she would have half the estate.” When asked by her
brother what she would do, she said, “Keep the money, I’m going to America.” Her brother replied, “Mary,
if you will stay you can have it all as Ann and I have all we will ever need.” Mary’s answer was still the
same.
Mary and her two daughters, Levinah and Martha Ann, sailed for America on the ship Juventa.
While enroute the sea was very rough. They had trouble with the sharks, one following their ship for three
days, giving them great concern. The captain, an aged gray haired man, having been a captain for fortytwo years and being at sea since a child of
seven, said it was the worst storm he had
ever seen. He acknowledged that if it
hadn’t been for the Mormons aboard, and
their prayers, the ship would have surely
gone down.
During this bad storm Martha Ann
lost her grip and fell, striking her back on a
large pole. She spent the rest of her
voyage strapped to her bed. She never
fully recovered from this fall. Being on the
ocean longer than expected they were
short of food so the captain ordered it to
be rationed. After a tiresome six weeks
they landed in the New York Harbor.
Just how long they were in New
York and when they started across the
plains, we don’t know. Their captain,
The ship Juventa, where the three women traveled without their father and
husband.
Milo Andrews, coming across the plains was very mean, hateful, and
strict with the saints. Martha Ann’s mother, Mary Riste, was old and
failing in health. She had to walk most of the time and had ropes tied
around her waist when crossing the river. Martha Ann and Levinah
walked all the way. One time at an extra large river they loaded all of the
women and children. Martha Ann stood on the double-tree and hung to
the wagon box (water coming around her legs) while they crossed. When
starting in the morning all the women would gather buffalo chips in their
aprons (waist), carrying them all day for fuel at night.
They settled in Santaquin. They stayed there, and Mary Ann
died 11 October 1885, at Santaquin, Utah. Her husband James had
died in 1882. It was here that Martha Ann Riste met and married George
Deliverance Wilson, on 21 September 1856. Their first two children were born here and then Brigham
Young called them to go south.
They had eleven children as follows: Mary Johnson born May 6, 1857 in Santaquin, Utah; George
Hyrum born October 4, 1858, in Santaquin, Utah; Martha Ann born July 29, 1860, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah;
James William born November 28, 1862, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah; Joseph Deliverance born December 12,
1864, in Monroe, Utah; Jesse Stephen born August 1, 1867, in Scipio, Utah; Levinah Emmaline born 14
April 1879, in St. Joseph, Nevada, on “The Muddy,” which was covered for a time with Lake Mead.
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David Israel was born August 31, 1872, in Panguitch, Utah; John Thomas born April 7, 1876, in
Hillsdale, Utah; Sarah Ann born May 31, 1877, in Hillsdale, Utah; and Almeria born April 6, 1880, in
Hillsdale..
George Deliverance Wilson built saw mills, and as a result, their 11 children were born in seven
different towns. The church would call him to a place to build a saw mill, and when it was working good,
he would be called to another town to start one there. It would be difficult in those times to move so often,
and with so many children, but they accepted the new call to move whenever they were asked to.
The captain of their company, Milo Andrus, had made Martha Ann’s mother walk a lot of the way
on the trip out west, and years later when they lived in Hillsdale, Utah, he and others were coming to visit,
and people were asked to take them into their homes. Martha Ann, in her thick English accent, said, “Milo
Andrus can’t dawken my door! He made my poor old mother walk across the plains.” Her husband,
George Deliverance Wilson, said, “We’ll take all you want to give us, and especially Milo Andrus.”
Ruth Allen Miles, her granddaughter
remembers sitting on her knee, and hearing her
grandmother, Martha Ann, sing to her, “I dreamt I dwelt
in Marble Halls,” from an opera.
I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls
From an opera composed by Michael Balfe;
libretto by Alfred Bunn
Song Lyrics From The Bohemian Girl
The Gipsy Girl's Dream*
I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls,
With vassals and serfs at my side,
And of all who assembled within those walls,
That I was the hope and the pride.
I had riches too great to count, could boast
Of a high ancestral name;
But I also dreamt, which pleased me most,
That you lov'd me still the same...
That you lov'd me, you lov'd me still the same,
That you lov'd me, you lov'd me still the same.
I dreamt that suitors sought my hand;
That knights upon bended knee,
And with vows no maiden heart could withstand,
They pledg'd their faith to me;
The playbill which perhaps Martha Ann probably had, and
had attended before they came to Utah.
And I dreamt that one of that noble host
Came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt, which charmed me most,
That you lov'd me still the same...
That you lov'd me, you lov'd me still the same,
That you lov'd me, you lov'd me still the same.
Sung by the character of Arline in the opera. (Can be heard on “youtube” on the internet.)
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There is a good chance that
Martha Ann saw that opera
before she left London.
Martha Ann Riste had a beautiful lyric soprano voice, and was in
the Royal Choir which sang for Queen Victoria, before she came to the
United States, when she was 16 years old. She sang a solo for Queen
Victoria at that time, and was wearing a locket, which she gave to her
daughter Levinah Emmaline. She gave it to her daughter Ruth Allen
Miles, as Ruth also had a beautiful soprano voice. Ruth gave it to her
daughter Paralee Miles Eckman on her 18th birthday, as Paralee was
an accomplished pianist.
Paralee gave it to her daughter Pamela Eckman Nicholson, as she
had sung in several choirs, and sung solos. The necklace, which is a
locket, rectangular in shape, with a small place inside in which a
picture could be inserted, and has a turquoise stone on the chain
holder, is traditionally given to a daughter who has done the most in
music, by her mother. Names of the recipients are engraved on the
back of the locket.
Martha Ann Riste Wilson died the 8th of October 1915 at Hillsdale,
Utah.
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The locket – about life size, with the
turquoise stone in the chain holder.